I'm Glad I Ran Into You
by spookisapuppy
Summary: This is about Halt and Pauline meeting for the first time. It's EXTREMELY fluffy. Don't say I didn't warn you.


**So, this story is really just fluff. It's about Halt and Pauline meeting for the first time, they're about 19 or 20. It takes place in Castle Araluen. Amelia is just some random courier friend of Pauline's I made up. Oh, and I know their personalities are off, Halt especially, but come on people, he's talking to a **_**girl**_**. It makes him nervous. Oh, and if this is confusing, I'm sorry, but I wrote it while sitting in a car for hours. So, read, and hopefully, enjoy. :P **

* * *

"Who's that?"

Amelia glanced up to see two young men crossing the great hall, one dark haired, the other blonde. The blonde boy seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, but the dark haired boy was looking around the room curiously. Which was only to be expected, the great hall of Castle Araluen _was_ pretty impressive.

"Who? Crowley?"

The tall blonde girl rolled her eyes at her friend.

"No, not Crowley. The other one."

"Oh, him? He's a friend of Crowley's, a Ranger, I think."

"Hmm..." She continued watching them as Amelia went back to her work. The black haired boy looked back and met her gaze for a split second before being tugged away by Crowley. Amelia looked up to see her friend still staring off into space.

"You okay Pauline?"

Pauline shook herself to clear her head. She'd been lost in thought. "Hmm? Oh, yes. I'm fine." She went back to work, but couldn't resist having one more look at the retreating figures.

* * *

"Crowley, who's that?"

The blonde headed boy didn't look back. "Who?"

"That girl." Crowley glanced over his shoulder at the two girls on the other side of the room.

"Oh, that's Amelia and Pauline, they're couriers."

"Hmm..." He started to turn and look at them again, but was pulled away as Crowley tugged at his sleeve.

"Come on Halt! We're going to be late." Halt hurried along after his friend, but couldn't resist having one more look back at the pretty blonde courier.

* * *

Pauline was rushing down the hall, a box full of papers in her arms. She was in such a hurry that she didn't notice the boy until she ran into him-literally. The box went flying, scattering papers across the hall. Pauline fell to the ground while the boy remained standing, a look of complete surprise on his face.

"Oh! I'm sorry, here, let me help you up, um, what's your name?" He bent down and helped Pauline back to her feet. She smoothed the wrinkles from her dress and tucked a few stray hairs back into place before answering.

"Thank you. And my name's Pauline."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Pauline," he said with a mock bow, "My name's Halt."

She smiled at him, having to look down slightly to do so. Now that she saw him up close, she realized that he was at least two inches shorter than she was.

"Halt, eh? Well, you certainly stopped me in my tracks." The joke was rewarded with the slightest hint of a smile crossing his features.

"Yes, well, sorry about that. Here, let me help you with this." He bent down and grabbed the box, placing several of the scattered papers into it as he did so.

"Oh, thank you." Between the two of them they managed to find all of the papers. Halt hefted the now full box in his arms to get a better grip on it.

"Now, if you'll be so kind as to tell me where you're going, I think I can carry this for you."

"Hmm, a real gentleman, I see. These are going to Crowley, but I can carry them myself." She moved to take the box, but Halt didn't budge.

"Oh, but you see, you're in luck. I'm headed that way too."

"Well..." she said thoughtfully, "Alright. Let's go."

She led the way down the hall with Halt following closely to the side and behind her. They walked in silence for a few minutes, which suited Halt just fine, but Pauline never was one to keep quiet for very long. She looked over at the boy.

"So, you're from Hibernia?" She'd noticed when he was talking earlier that he had a very distinct Hibernian accent.

"Nope. Gallica." He said it with such a completely straight face that Pauline looked at him in confusion, brow furrowed.

"Really."

He shook his head good naturedly. There wasn't a smile on his face but Pauline could hear the amusement in his voice as he answered. "No, I'm from Hibernia."

"So how long have you been in Araluen?"

"Oh, not too long."

Pauline, a trained diplomat, could tell by his tone of voice that he didn't like discussing his move to Araluen. She decided to change the subject.

"You're a friend of Crowley's?" He nodded. "How did you two meet?"

"Ah, well, you might want to ask Crowley about that, I'm not too clear on the details." She nodded thoughtfully, wondering what the circumstances might have been.

Halt stopped in front of a wooden door. "Well, here we are. I would open the door, but-" he nodded down at the box in his hands.

"Right."

Crowley looked up as Pauline entered the room. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he saw Halt come in after her, sending a silent question to his friend. Halt shrugged slightly in response, then quickly looked away.

"These are for you, Crowley." Pauline said, gesturing at the box in Halt's arms.

"More paperwork, I see."

"Yes, and plenty of it."

Halt set the box down on Crowley's desk, causing Crowley to sigh.

"Well, thank you Pauline."

"You're welcome Crowley," she turned to leave, "See you later Halt." She left the room and closed the door softly.

Crowley crossed his arms and stared at his friend, a huge smile on his face. Halt glared at him.

"What?" He asked defensively.

Crowley gave him a meaningful look, flicking his eyes toward the door. "You were flirting with her, weren't you?" Halt suddenly found something of intense interest out the window.

"Is that a hawk?"

The smile on Crowley's face widened. "Oh, Halt, I knew it! You like her." Halt quickly turned away, but not fast enough that Crowley didn't notice his rapidly reddening features. He studied the stiff form of the Hibernian boy for a moment before speaking again. "You know, there's this party tonight," Halt was already starting to shake his head, "And you should ask her to go with you."

"No. I can't."

"Oh, come on Halt, what's the worst that could happen?"

"She could say no."

"But what if she says yes? I bet if you go ask her she'll be all 'Oh Halt, I'm so glad you asked me, there's no one in the world I would rather go with than you.'" Crowley said in a mangled attempt at imitating a Pauline's voice.

Halt glared at his friend. "Remind me again why I keep hanging around you?"

"Because I offer great company, I have a wonderful personality, and not to mention that I'm a genius."

Halt rolled his eyes. "You're also full of it," he muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"I said I'll think about it."

Crowley clapped his hands together in anticipation. "Great! It's kind of formal, so you'll need to dress up. Hmm... maybe you could wear something of mine..." His voice faded away as he began planning for Halt's date. Halt began wondering if he hadn't just made a big mistake.

* * *

"So you had a whole conversation with him?"

"Yes."

"Wow. Do you know, no one's heard more than a few words out of him the whole time he's been here? Then you come along and drag a whole conversation out of him. I'm impressed."

Pauline rolled her eyes at Amelia. "Surely he's spoken more than that."

Amelia shook her head solemnly. "Nope. He's really shy. Or else he's just really stuck up, but that seems unlikely, because he was way nice to the people he _has_ spoken to."

"How do you stay on top of all of this gossip Amy?"

"Because, Paullie, I've made it my business to know everything that goes on in this castle. You may call it gossip, but I call it valuable information."

"Right."

"So, did he ask you to the party tonight?"

"I doubt he even knows about it. How long has he been here anyway?"

"Oh, about a week."

"You see? He probably hasn't heard."

Just then a knocking came at the door of the room the two girl's shared.

"That's probably him right now." Pauline got up from her bed and went to answer the door, shooting Amelia a dirty look as she did so. She opened the door and, sure enough, there was Halt, looking incredibly nervous.

"Oh, um, h-hello Pauline. Um.. I... I heard about this...um, party tonight, and I was...uh, I was wondering..." Pauline interrupted him.

"Of course I'll go with you Halt."

"You will? Oh, I mean, that's great! I'll, uh, see you tonight then."

"See you tonight." And she closed the door. Amelia was giving her a knowing look.

"You see? What did I tell you?"

"So you were right, big deal."

Amelia sighed and fell back onto her bed.

"You're so lucky. That boy is adorable."

"And just what do you think you're doing, lying around? I need to find a dress. We have work to do."

Amelia clapped her hands together in anticipation. "Great."

* * *

Halt let out all his breath at once and leaned against the wall outside of Pauline's door. Crowley materialized out of the shadows in the hall.

"See Halt? I told you she'd say yes." He clapped his friend on the back and turned him back in the direction of his office. Suddenly, a thought struck Halt.

"Crowley? Who are you going with?"

"Did you see all of the paper work sitting on my desk Halt? I'm not going at all."

"What!? If you're making me go, then you're definitely going."

Crowley studied his friend carefully.

"If I don't go you'll chicken out, won't you?"

Halt nodded. "Probably, yes."

"Hmm... Well, okay, I'll ask Amelia."

"Okay."

"So, come on, we have to get you ready! I wonder if we still have time to get you a haircut?"

"Crowley, you are _not_ cutting my hair."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see." Crowley hurried off, pulling Halt in his wake.

* * *

"Oh, look at her. She's beautiful."

"Yes. Yes she is. And she's also waiting for you."

Halt looked worryingly over at his friend. "Crowley, I can't do this."

"Sure you can. All you need is a little SHOVE." And on the last word Crowley pushed Halt towards Pauline, almost causing him to bump into her before he regained his balance. Crowley, satisfied with his handiwork, went off in search of Amelia.

Halt found himself face to face with Pauline. She really did look beautiful, dressed in an elegant blue gown, with her long blonde hair falling around her shoulders in waves. She wore no makeup, but she didn't need any. Halt found himself dumbstruck. This was the strangest feeling for him, being nervous. He'd spoken to the king on several occasions, and he hadn't been nervous then. But put him in front of this girl, and he turned into a nervous, stuttering pile of goo. Maybe not the most eloquent way of putting it, but that's how he felt. Pauline, however, knew exactly what to say.

"Hello Halt. Would you like to dance?"

"Oh... I don't really know how..." She smiled at him.

"Well, that's okay. How about if we just sit over there and talk?"

Halt nodded and followed her over to a few seats set up in the hall, out of the way of the dancers.

"So, Halt. I hear you're a Ranger."

He nodded eagerly. "Yes. Newly appointed, of course. I had a bit of an 'apprenticeship' with Crowley. The King was a bit nervous about my becoming a Ranger at first, since I'm not from Araluen, but Crowley talked him into it. I should be getting a Fief to look after pretty soon."

"That should be exciting. Where do you think you'll go?"

"I don't know. It could be any of the fiefs, well, except for Araluen of course, since Crowley's here."

"So you could end up anywhere?" He nodded.

"What about you? You're a courier, do you like your job?"

"Oh, yes, I love it. There's a funny story actually..."

Halt and Pauline talked well into the night, not leaving until the servants started cleaning up after the party. Halt walked Pauline to her door.

"I had a wonderful time, Halt."

"So did I."

"Well, I guess this is goodnight, then."

"Yes. Goodnight Pauline."

"Goodnight Halt." She looked down for a moment, seeming to make her mind up about something. Then she leaned down slightly and kissed him. Halt, after a moment of surprise, kissed her back. When they broke apart both were breathing raggedly.

"Night Halt," she said, and quickly made her escape back into her bedroom. Halt, still slightly stunned, watched her go, the slightest of smiles on his face.

* * *

Crowley found Halt the next morning at breakfast. "Hey, how did your big night go?"

Halt had a slightly dreamy look on his face. "It was great."

"Looks like it. Well, I have good news for you." Halt looked up at Crowley.

"What is it?"

"You have just been assigned to your very own fief. Redmont! Isn't it great?"

"That's wonderful Crowley!" Halt heard himself saying the words, but he didn't feel them. He really wanted to stay here, at Castle Araluen, with the girl he'd kissed last night. But he would act happy for the sake of his friend, and he would go to Redmont because it was his duty. He sighed on the inside. "Redmont, huh?"

* * *

Pauline stared down at the parchment in her hands. This could not be happening. She looked at the envelope again, just to make sure it really was her name written on it.

"Redmont? But what am I ever going to do at Redmont?"

* * *

Years later, Halt and Pauline were dancing at their wedding. It was worth it, Pauline thought, to have waited almost twenty years for this man. She smiled down at her new husband, who smiled back up at her.

"Do you know something Halt?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad I ran in to you."

Halt thought back to that day, so many years ago, when he had met the tall blonde girl in the halls of Castle Araluen. He hadn't known it then, but she was to be his wife, and the only woman he'd ever loved. He smiled at her now.

"I am too."

And they twirled around the room together, secure in the knowledge that they would be together for the rest of their lives.

* * *

**Oh, there's so much fluff it just makes me sick. So, tell me peoples, what did you think? I've never written anything even remotely romantic before, so this was kind of a stretch for me. I might write another chapter on this if you guys want me to. So, why don't you be the bestest readers ever and review the story? Even if you didn't like it, I'd appreciate some reviews. Anyway, thanks for reading this, and goodbye. :P**


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